Surname Saturday – Burgess (England)

In deciding which surnames to use, I have started with my direct ancestors, working through the surnames alphabetically. I have two separate ancestors with the surname Burgess, so I will be setting up two separate posts.

Mary Ann married Silvester Oliver on 24 October 1824 in Melbourn. I have found Mary Ann and Silvester on the census records from 1841 to 1871 in Melbourn. On each of these census records, she is listed as being born about 1806 in Melbourn. The 1871 census also lists a William Burgiss as a visitor in the household. A William Burgess was also a witness at Mary Ann and Silvester’s marriage. Was this William Mary Ann’s brother?

This William was listed on the 1871 census as being born in 1798 in Melbourn. I decided to check the Melbourn parish registers to see all the entries for the Burgess family. This is all the entries I found:

lab father of Hannah Hale (x) full age wid (blank) otp married William Mulberry (signature Mulbry) full age widr lab otp son of Jonathon lab wits: B Samuel BANKS, Susan STEADMAN

Although the marriage of Henry Negus and Sarah Burgess would appear to indicate that Sarah was under age, the 1841 Census shows that Henry Negus, age 45, and Sarah Negus, age 65, were together in High St Melbourn. In the previous household was James and Ann Day, both age 45. The burial records for Melbourn also show a burial entry for a Sarah Negus on 22 May 1842, age 70. Based on Henry’s age on the 1841 census, it would appear that he may have been the one who was under age at the time of their marriage, and therefore it may have been his parents who needed to give consent. If he was 50 at the time of the 1841 census, this would indicate a birth year of 1791, and since he was listed as 45, he would have been born between 1791 and 1796. This would mean at the time of the marriage in 1813, he would have been between 17 and 22 years old.

From the parish registers, it appears Sarah Burgess, nee Chapman, became a widow in 1799. This may have explained why there is no baptism record for Mary Ann. Although it does appear that Mary Ann would belong to this family, there doesn’t seem to be any way to be certain of this, or to find out who her father was.

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